A Blueprint for the Blue States
The Democratic Party is in the midst of a crisis. In 2016, Democrats lost the presidency, were unable to seriously compete for the House, and failed to take back the Senate. At the state level, Democrats are the weakest they’ve been in nearly 100 years, with just 16 Democratic governors and 12 state legislatures with Democratic majorities. Meanwhile, Republicans have trifectas in an astonishing 26 states.
But we shouldn’t despair yet. We can rebuild the Democratic Party nationally if we focus, first, on rebuilding our party’s power at the state level.
As the “laboratories of democracy,” the states are where the boldest new legislative experiments — like universal healthcare, free community college, and marriage equality — are dreamed up and tested. Eventually, these state-level experiments get turned into national policies. The party with the greatest control of state governments owns the map to the future.
Fewer Democratic legislatures means fewer progressive policies get past the post: they go untested at the state level and, therefore, unfulfilled at the national level. By rebuilding Democratic power in our state legislatures, we can regain control of our country’s direction. We can turn our good ideas into federal laws.
We won’t be working from scratch. During what seemed to many like the Dark Ages of the George W. Bush presidency, Democrats in state legislatures patiently laid the foundation for what later became some of President Barack Obama’s signature policies. These accomplishments suggest the huge power and promise of Democratic state leadership.
Zigzagging toward progress
Our proudest national reforms have built on years of planning and negotiating at the state level. In 2004, Massachusetts became the first state to legally recognize same-sex marriage — a victory that came only after decades of citizen-activist engagement, a landmark court decision, and strong progressive leadership in the state legislature.
In 2002, a group of state senators and state representatives outmaneuvered backers of an anti-LGBT “definition of marriage amendment” at a constitutional convention. Meanwhile, seven brave couples sued the state Department of Public Health for denying them equal rights under the law, and won their case before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in 2003.
But, as President Obama has said, “progress is never a straight line.” Marriage equality in Massachusetts was not firmly secured until 2007, when the last of several attempts to amend the Massachusetts Constitution by referendum was defeated in the Legislature.
Five years later, President Obama came out in support of same-sex marriage, and by 2015 it was legal in all 50 states. Now, people who love each other can start their own families with the reassurance that they will have full recognition under the law, including the right to spousal benefits, survivor benefits, and visiting rights at hospitals, where loved ones are needed most.
Massachusetts has also pioneered reforms in climate protection and healthcare. After the Bush Administration claimed in 2003 that the EPA had no power to regulate greenhouse gas pollution, a group of blue states led by California and Massachusetts sued. The resulting Supreme Court decision from 2007, Massachusetts v. EPA, became one of the cornerstones of the Obama Administration’s environmental efforts, paving the way for the Clean Power Plan and other protections.
And in 2006, Massachusetts (under Governor Mitt Romney) passed a statewide health insurance plan that became the blueprint for President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. While the individual mandate and a health care exchange marketplace were not ideas unique to Massachusetts, it was the first state to implement them and achieve near-universal health coverage.
Because of this early work in Massachusetts, Americans across the country no longer have to fear going bankrupt to pay for life-saving medical treatments. Moms and Dads can finally guarantee medical care for their children, their own parents and themselves, whether they have a preexisting condition or not.
State leaders rise to the challenge
Today, state governments are once again stepping up to protect their citizens, while the Trump Administration and Congress go in the opposite direction.
In Massachusetts, a group of state legislators has introduced a plan for universal pre-K that could serve as a model for national legislation under the next Democratic president.
New York has a plan to make tuition free at state community colleges and four-year public universities. Other states will soon follow, and many of these efforts will one day serve as templates for a national program to realize this progressive goal.
California is doubling down on efforts to promote clean energy development, passing new, bipartisan legislation to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and set aggressive renewable energy goals. As in the past, environmental protections that begin in California will eventually make their way to D.C.
After President Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, California Governor Jerry Brown, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Washington Governor Jay Inslee, and dozens of other governors and mayors from both parties immediately stepped up to continue the work of protecting our environment. This strong response from state leaders will prepare the way for national climate reforms in the future.
The green shoots of hope
These state initiatives are the green shoots of hope in the era of Trump. As progressives and Democrats, it must be our mission to help them take root.
The lessons from the past are clear: Strong leadership and steady activism at the state level make gains on the national level, first by starting the conversation and then by showing a proven, successful model of progressive policies in action.
State legislatures need to find the best ideas in their states, then enlist their citizens to help them turn those ideas into state laws.
As the saying goes, “Washington is always last to get the news.” The plan for progressives must be to start at state capitols and work upwards. The chain reaction usually starts in the laboratory.
Sen. Eric P. Lesser is the Senate chairman of the Joint Committee on Economic Development & Emerging Technologies, vice chairman of the Joint Committee on Financial Services, and leads Millennial Outreach for the Massachusetts State Senate. He represents the First Hampden & Hampshire District in Western Massachusetts.
